Organic Electrochemical Transistors for Reading Brain Waves

A new type of implantable electrode can get much more sensitive readings of brain waves and cost substantially less, according to a scientist studying the device. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) consist of conductive polymers and liquid electrolytes, which could make for an easy interface between, say, the surface of the brain and conventional silicon electronics. Device physicists have been studying OECTs since the early part of this century, says George Malliaras , head of the bioelectronics department at École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne, France, but they don’t yet fully understand how they work. In a research published in Science Advances last week, Malliaras and his colleagues determined that the performance of the device is directly related to the thickness of the polymer channel, a piece of information that will help in designing thes...